On a sodden pitch, Jesse Marsch marched towards the 3,000 Leeds United fans and clapped some more. Shutting out Newcastle United on home soil, however wet, is not an easy task, and the value of a point for a team fighting relegation cannot be overstated. Leeds edged further away from the relegation zone and there was reason to celebrate that.
There has been much talk this week of whether Newcastle are ready to fight for the title. The answer came in the rain. By the day’s close they were looking over their shoulder, the battle to stay in the top four becoming ever more tense. On Tuesday they head to Arsenal.
In the stands at St James’ Park they muttered unrest at the end of a six-game winning run in the Premier League. It was not for want of trying.
In both halves they created chances to see off Leeds. Fabian Schär, Sean Longstaff and Chris Wood could have scored on another day. As it was, for only the second time this season, Newcastle failed to score in a home league game.
“I’m disappointed,” Eddie Howe, their head coach, said. “Not with the players, I just I felt we should have won. That game was there to win.
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“We spoke in the dressing room and there was a feeling of frustration and disappointment, only healthy emotions.
“You don’t want the players sitting there with smiles on their faces. Our expectation is to win; if we don’t, we are disappointed. The effort was there. It was just that final finish.”
To stop Newcastle, Marsch was given a full shift from his players. That Leeds came into the game having played on Wednesday against Manchester City meant that they had two days’ less rest than their opponents, who had beaten Leicester City on Monday.
Statistically they are the teams that play at the highest intensity in the top division. By the finish Tyler Adams was floored with cramp. His was a performance to be admired, marshalling the heart of the away side’s midfield with the same maturity that he had shown with the United States during the World Cup.
“I thought he was very good,” Marsch said. “He was able to help manage the midfield, with or without the ball. Tyler was important.”
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Adams managed to rile Bruno Guimarães in the heart of midfield. Guimarães, who during the warm-up wore a Brazil strip with “Pele 10’ on the back, was booked in stoppage time after a coming-together on the pitch that involved 19 players. Callum Wilson had pushed over Illan Meslier, the Leeds goalkeeper, and from there a mêlée followed.
Leeds had secured their point by that stage. Jack Harrison shot wide after a tricky run in the first half and Nick Pope, at full stretch, tipped away a shot from Rodrigo.
The visiting side were on the back foot for most of the second half, but they stuck to a plan and that felt significant. Leeds had conceded ten goals in their three previous league games.
“We thought we were giving away goals cheaply before the World Cup break but now we are fighting like hell not to do that,” Marsch added.
“The point is valuable, but even more valuable is the clean sheet. They have not been easy to come by. We have given goals away too cheaply.
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“We have talked tactics and mentality. In the first half we played very well, we managed to find chances. In the second half they played very direct to pick up set pieces and put balls in the box.
“It becomes about momentum and energy and bending but not breaking. In general we did that very well.”
The best chances belonged to the home side. Wood went round Meslier early on but failed to cross and Schär sent a free header wide from a Kieran Trippier corner. Dan Burn slipped when presented with a good opportunity and Guimarães shot over from the edge of the Leeds penalty area. Early in the second half Meslier denied Wood in a one-on-one situation, after a nod down from Burn, and then saved a Schär effort from close range.
Longstaff shot over with his left foot and then his right in the space of five minutes. “The chances were there,” Howe said. “That is pleasing. I would back us if we played that game again to win quite comfortably.”
Star man Tyler Adams (Leeds United).
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Newcastle (4-3-3): N Pope 7 — K Trippier 7, F Schär 7, S Botman 7, D Burn 7 — S Longstaff 6, B Guimarães 6, J Willock 6 (A Saint-Maximin 64min, 6) — M Almirón 6 (J Murphy 84), C Wood 6 (C Wilson 64, 5), Joelinton 7. Booked Trippier, Guimarães, Wilson.
Leeds (4-3-3-2): I Meslier 7 — L Ayling 7 (R Kristensen 70, 5), R Koch 6, L Cooper 6, P Struijk 6 — A Forshaw 7 (M Roca 46, 6), T Adams 8 — B Aaronson, J Harrison 7 (M Klich 64, 5), W Gnonto 5 (C Summerville 70, 4) — Rodrigo 6 (J Gelhardt 82). Booked Ayling, Struijk, Roca, Gnonto, Meslier.
Referee S Hooper.
